Should cats be made illegal!?

kestrelx · 04-09-2012, 23:14

Today I heard shocking news about cats. One reason I dislike them is that they destroy millions of garden birds every year.

Now it comes to light they also carry a deadly disease called Toxoplasmosis.

This article is taken from the link below!

WHAT IS TOXOPLASMOSIS?
A disease caused by infection by a protozoan - a type of single-celled organism - called Toxoplasma gondii.
HOW IS IT SPREAD?
Toxoplasma gondii can only complete its lifecycle - in other words, reproduce sexually - in cats. A host cat can transmit millions of toxoplasma 'oocysts' - containing the protozoan's embryo - in its faeces. These oocysts can survive for several years in the soil and be ingested by a variety of organisms, including lambs and humans, who are 'accidental hosts'.
However, for toxoplasma's lifecycle to be completed, it must find its way into a rat or mouse. Toxoplasma causes changes in the host rodent's brain that make it behave in a way which is more likely to lead to its capture by a cat. Toxoplasma's lifecycle is completed when a cat eats an infected rodent.
WHAT HEALTH PROBLEMS CAN IT CAUSE?
Scientists suspect that the chemical changes that have been shown to happen in infected rats' brains might also happen in those of humans.
Professor Joanne Webster of Imperial College London told The Independent: "I think what we are going to see in humans is going to be similar to what we see in rats.
"There's going to be these very subtle changes such as slightly decreased reaction times and gender effects between males and females. Most of it will be so subtle we won't see it unless we look very carefully, which goes with it being dismissed as an asymptomatic parasite for so long."
Scientists are still trying to understand the behavioural changes - if any - in humans infected with toxoplasma, but research has so far linked it to worse reaction times, a more than two-fold increase in the risk of being involved in a car accident, suicide in women and schizophrenia.
Jaroslav Flegr of Charles University in Prague, who studied reaction times, said of the car accident findings: "If it is true, then latent toxoplasmosis is the second most important protozoan killer, just after the malaria."
Toxoplasma in pregnant women can affect the development of the foetus and cause a miscarriage. People whose immune systems are deficient, such as those suffering from Aids, can suffer diseases such as the potentially lethal toxoplasmic encephalitis of the brain.
HOW CAN I AVOID CATCHING TAXOPLASMOSIS?
Don't own a cat, for a start. Felines like to defecate in loose soil and sand, so don't let your child near playgrounds where sand pits are kept uncovered. Rare lamb can also carry toxoplasma, and some scientists want the government to advise against eating underdone lamb.
IS THERE A CURE FOR TAXOPLASMOIS?
Yes, but at the moment, only patients with obvious symptoms caused by toxoplasma are treated. One treatment, according to the Mayo Clinic, involves Pyrimethamine, a medication used for malaria, taken alongside a course of antibiotics.
In more than 80 per cent of human cases, toxoplasmosis results in no obvious symptoms. However, new research suggests that even among this apparently healthy 80 per cent, toxoplasmosis cause potentially dangerous behavioural changes.

How your cat could make you suicidal: Q&A - Comment & Analysis - MSN News UK

churchfcrules · 04-09-2012, 23:23

So if I play with someones ( mmm another name for a cat) then I catch this it will make my brain force me into actions that will cause me to get caught by another ( what is that word)

I think Ive already had this

Guinness · 04-09-2012, 23:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by kestrelx

Professor Joanne Webster of Imperial College London told The Independent: "I think what we are going to see in humans is going to be similar to what we see in rats.

(and as Tolkein might have put it.....)

Professor Joanne Webster said, as she caressed her thin fine whiskers with her sharp grey forepaws, 'I really hate Cats' and with a swish of her long pointed tail she vanished into the small round hole in the wall.

flashy · 05-09-2012, 06:13

Toxoplasmosis has been around for a long long time, nothing has just come to light, NO they shouldn't be banned as pets, if you know how to look after a cat properly then this isn't a problem

Boeing Guy · 05-09-2012, 06:14

As a cat lover, maybe you should be made illegal.
Oh and I love dogs too

Boeing Guy · 05-09-2012, 06:30

Oh and seeing that certain breeds of Dogs have seen to have Killed people in recent years, maybe we should make dogs illegal?
Cigarettes kill thousands every year lets make them illegal.
Cars and all forms of motor traffic, bye....
I could go on, but I have a aeroplane to fly, while they are still legal.......

Tealeaf · 05-09-2012, 08:20

'Domestic' cats are nor more than rats with fluffy tails. Absolute vermin. This planet would be a far better place if the lot of 'em were exterminated.

jaysay · 05-09-2012, 08:22

I do wonder about the thread starter, not actually sure which planet he's from, but it sure as hell ain't planet earth that's for sure

churchfcrules · 05-09-2012, 08:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysay

I do wonder about the thread starter, not actually sure which planet he's from, but it sure as hell ain't planet earth that's for sure

How so?

Although I do not myself agree with his loathing of cats, he has put his case forward, provided evidence.

And asked for fellow human beings feedback, I am guilty myself of replying in a flippant manner, as I believed the thread to be sum what tongue - in- cheek

But I don't see how living on another planet applies? Stranger things are illegal in lots of states throughout the globe?

Tealeaf · 05-09-2012, 08:57

Can someone tell me what is the purpose of a cat, other than to kill birds, dig up peoples' flower displays and then chyte in them?

cashman · 05-09-2012, 08:59

Well one purpose of em is to annoy Tealeafs. so that makes em ok to me.

jaysay · 05-09-2012, 09:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by churchfcrules

How so?

Although I do not myself agree with his loathing of cats, he has put his case forward, provided evidence.

And asked for fellow human beings feedback, I am guilty myself of replying in a flippant manner, as I believed the thread to be sum what tongue - in- cheek

But I don't see how living on another planet applies? Stranger things are illegal in lots of states throughout the globe?

you would if you see the weird and the wonderful he keeps popping up with

mind you it looks like twos not a crowd

jaysay · 05-09-2012, 09:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashman

Well one purpose of em is to annoy Tealeafs. so that makes em ok to me.

Works for me

lancsdave · 05-09-2012, 10:08

You've more chance of catching a disease walking round town

churchfcrules · 05-09-2012, 10:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysay

you would if you see the weird and the wonderful he keeps popping up with

mind you it looks like twos not a crowd

Oh I see,so it was just a personal attack, not actually relevant to the thread then?

I take it your reference to twos not a crowd, is also just another personal attack, again with no relevance to the subject?